The Identity and Passport Service has cut down its shortlist for the biggest contract within the National Identity Scheme.
It has dropped IBM from the competition for the application and enrolment procurement, leaving CSC and Fujitsu in contention. In September, IPS said that all three firms were on the shortlist for the deal …

COMMENTS

big risk

I'm quite surprised that anyone is now seriously involved in going for this tender as this Government is staring down the barrel of the gun come the next election. Or is this another contract negotiated by the Administration containing lots of payouts to the winner should it be canned by a successor? If so then surely such beligerent, overt, malicious, political intent is just another illustration of the nasty, spiteful people holding the keys to power in the UK.

Either way, if we're paying for something we don't want we should at least be told about how it could cost us in the future.

Waste of money

Wacky Jacqui is full on frothing at the mouth insane. I have no idea where she can justify spending these amounts of money, instead of actually spending it usefully on methods that may actually reduce crime such as, well I don't know... um more police officers?

Even if it goes ahead civil disobediance will kill the ID Card. People with principles, including myself, will refuse to carry the wretched things.

Re: big risk

GIven the public position of the Conservatives and Lib Dems you can be certain that bids drawn up by the still-competing companies will have big parachute payments in the likelihood of cancellation. Not least because they'll need to find new (and unplanned) work for all those staff beavering away on the project.

On the plus side (for me!) this also means they will probably mitigate the risk by filling any labour shortfall (no pun intended) with contract staff. The idea of working on a project that is to all intents and purposes dead in the water does not appeal - especially as a taxpayer and especially in this time of financial meltdown for the government's accounts.

Ideally even bidding for this project should be shelved until 2010, just run with the prototype and see how things go.